One thing that is close to the heart of Former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon Rtd., is the Masterplan put up by his administration decades ago to shift focus of the healthcare sector towards assuring the wellness of the average Nigerian citizen.

 

Gowon, along with a host of medical experts who gathered at the 2nd annual meeting of the Nigerian- American Medical Foundation International, NAMFI, in partnership with Coca-Cola, Nigeria, in Lagos, advocated improvement in the country's tertiary medical industry as a means of putting an end to the spectre of medical tourism and save the country from incessant capital flight.

 

In his paper entitled "Medical Tourism Nigeria: Quo vadis?," Gowon acknowledged that achieving tertiary health care coverage for all Nigerians is a sacred duty of any good government.

 

Expressing dissatisfaction over the current state of the nation's healthcare sector, the former Nigerian leader lamented that healthcare, which was a cardinal point of his administration, has been usurped by the high rate of medical tourism as a result of lack of continuity by succeeding administrations.

 

He lamented that, if succeeding governments that took over from him followed in his footsteps, today, Nigeria would be a referral point for neighbouring countries in the area of healthcare delivery.

 

His words: "During my tenure, we had only six medical schools in the country then, so I called the then Provost, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Professor Dosekun to produce 1,000 doctors every year for Nigeria and I gave my support. The idea then was to first have enough human resources that would take care of Nigerians.

 

"So during the 3rd National Development Plan, our focus was on human development and education. What we intended to achieve with this was to get each state to have a specialist hospital so as to enable them concentrate on one or two special areas so that any case anywhere in Nigeria could be sent there," he remarked.

 

The administration then considered the environmental factors which also prompted people to travel abroad for healthcare.

 

"In our plan, we marked Obudu in Cross River State and Plateau State to have a special hospital where persons who need tertiary healthcare service can go there for treatment and re-cooperation due to its good and better atmosphere. But unfortunately, immediately the next administration took over from us, the plan was abandoned," he lamented.

 

Gowon asserted that it is high time Nigeria as a country start to examine ways by which successful governments have addressed their own situation with the active participation of the private sector.

 

He said Nigeria as a country has come a long way adding that it has become imperative at this time to rise to the challenge of saving fellow Nigerians from the huge burden of disease by improving on the country's health sector.

 

Describing the initiative of NAMFI as an effort in right direction, he said the aim which is to provide the highest quality medical care in a personable environment to all in Nigeria, particularly the very indigent, was in line with the vision of the Centenary Celebration which emphasises self sufficiency in science and technology across geographical borders.

 

Former Health Minister and Chairman, NAMFI Advisory Board of Trustees, Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi: "Our main goal is to fill the vacuum of medical diagnostic tertiary care on the Nigerian soil thereby improving disease diagnostic capabilities and patient care."

 

Adelusi-Adeluyi further disclosed that the motive is to have a referral hospital with the template of Cleveland Clinic, Ohio, United States in the country where patient care will be paramount. "This hospital will operate for the public not for private interest. NAMFI will make profit but none of the profit will be use for private enjoyment and benefit. It is a service driven at a minimum cost."

 

On his part the Secretary of the Association, Adeyinka Shoroye said that Nigeria has the greatest advantage which is human capital and should be able to capitalise on that to ensure that services are in place within the country, that will discourage people from travelling abroad to seek medical care.

 

"At the moment, we have NAMFI Clinic service which is a non-profit organisation here in Nigeria where our visiting international physicians rotating year-round in Lagos in a single location in medical offices/ telemedicine suites with an affiliated hospital and we do not primarily have our own patients; we are purely a referral super-specialty tertiary consultation service serving specialty and primary care physicians everywhere in Nigeria and we respect the relationship of the patients and their referring doctors."

 

Appreciating the initiative, Community Affairs Manager, Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited, Emeka Mba however called for more commitment in area of National health coverage which will in turn reduce the number of women in Africa dying from childbirth related complications.

 

"For us, we support good health and wellness as our contribution to the wellbeing of the society where we thrive. We believe that the difference between countries with good health outcomes and those with weak health systems is basically due to the effectiveness of the medical professionals in that terrain and their passion to sustain every initiative that drives home the dream and this we believe NAMFI stands for" he stated.

 

By Sola Ogundipe and Gabriel Olawal